Pakistan

UNITED NATIONS: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to take notice of India’s “brazen violations” of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), warning that New Delhi’s actions threaten Pakistan’s water security, regional stability and international peace. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad delivered a letter from DPM Dar to the president of the UNSC, Ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres of Colombia, drawing attention to India’s violations of the IWT. In a post on the social media platform X, the ambassador said the letter “draws urgent attention of the UNSC to two illegal Indian infrastructure projects linked to Chenab River system aimed at water diversion, which reveal India’s intention to illegally alter the treaty-governed flow and use of the Western rivers, weaponising water with dangerous implications for Pakistan’s water, food, and economic security as well as regional stability and international peace and security”. H...

ISLAMABAD: City managers have spent three tense days as unknown hackers reportedly breached the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) property and water billing system and demanded ransom in bitcoins, Dawn has learnt. CDA’s data related to property and conservancy charges has been compromised, and the hackers are allegedly threatening to upload the data on the dark web if the ransom is not paid, sources have revealed. “Since it is June (closing month), and a large number of people clear their property and tax dues this month, our systems have been hacked for the last three days,” said an official of the CDA revenue directorate. He said the revenue directorate, CDA’s vendor NRTC, and the Information Technology Department were making all-out efforts to restore the data. “Hopefully, the matter will be resolved by Friday (today),” he said. Meanwhile, several citizens told Dawn that they were unable to pay their taxes as CDA’s online links remained down. The CDA website was functional, however, the “Pay your bills...

RIYADH: Muslim-majority countries including regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Turkiye said on Thursday that they held Israel responsible for arson attacks on two West Bank mosques, which Palestinian officials said were torched by settlers. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkiye lambasted “the continued and escalating settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank”, pointing to the mosques that were set on fire a day earlier. “The Ministers hold Israel — as the occupying power — responsible for these attacks,” they said in a joint statement. On Wednesday, Israeli settlers set fire to mosques in the West Bank villages of Jiljiliya, north of Ramallah, and neighbouring Mazari an-Nubani, their mayors said, with journalists at one site seeing scorched walls and graffiti. Israel’s military confirmed the arson and graffiti on the mosques, but did not identify the perpetrators. Journalists who visited one torched mosque saw graffiti d...

Peshawar - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi on Thursday launched a comprehensive package of digital policing initiatives, including an online FIR registration system, a global police services application and an integrated complaints management platform aimed at improving public access to police services.

Admitting the Crime Control Department’s (CCD) mistake in the shooting of a young girl in Chakwal earlier this month, the Punjab police and the CCD said on Thursday that the incident would neither be defended nor covered up under “any circumstances”. They also described the shooting as a case of “criminal negligence”, saying that the CCD official’s lack of training had contributed to his inability to assess the situation correctly. A nine-year-old girl, Hania, was killed and her father and brother were injured last week after officials of the CCD opened fire on their car in the Chakwal city area, mistaking it for that of robbers. Addressing a press conference on the incident on Thursday, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abdul Karim described the incident as “deeply tragic”. He said it would be thoroughly investigated and that the negligence behind the CCD’s actions would be placed on record to ensure those responsible were brought before a court of law. Karim added that no institution could earn publi...

ISLAMABAD - The Ambassador of Romania called on the Honorable Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, in a cordial meeting aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and cultural cooperation between the two countries.

ISLAMABAD - A local court in Islamabad on Thursday granted post-arrest bail to a doctor accused of involvement in an alleged illegal kidney transplant network, ruling that the case against him required further inquiry and that no active role had prima facie emerged against him at the current stage of proceedings.

ISLAMABAD - In a bid to strengthen cultural exchange and foster creative partnerships between Pakistan and the United Kingdom, the British Council has launched its flagship Connections Through Culture (CTC) Grants 2026 programme in Pakistan for the first time.

ISLAMABAD - A local court in Islamabad on Thursday granted a two-day physical remand of a man accused of sharing private and sexually explicit content online, blackmailing a family for money and issuing threats through social media platforms.

VEHARI/ Mailsi - Deputy Commissioner Vehari Khalid Javed Goraya and District Police Officer (DPO) Tasawur Iqbal reviewed Muharram security arrangements, inspected procession routes and Imambargahs, monitored live surveillance through the District Control Room, and directed District Inspection Teams to ensure civic facilities and public safety.

VEHARI - Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), South Punjab Secretary General and Member National Assembly Natasha Daultana has said that “a strong nation is built on a confident middle class, but the present budget has failed to provide adequate relief to the segment that bears the burden of the economy, while economic inequality continues to.

MUZAFFAR GARH - Safe City Muzaffargarh achieved another milestone as District Manager Rizwan Haider was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of his outstanding performance and dedicated service towards ensuring public safety.

MUZAFFARGARH - A major breakthrough has been made in the case of abducted student Areeba Shamshad, who was recovered safely after prompt action was initiated on the directives of District Police Officer (DPO) Muzaffargarh, Syed Ghazanfar Ali Shah.

SIALKOT - A meeting of the District Coordination Committee (DCC) was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Saba Asghar Ali and Brigadier Asim Aziz Kiani, where ongoing enforcement actions across multiple sectors were reviewed in an integrated manner.

GUJRAT - District Police Officer (DPO) Gujrat, Akhtar Farooq, visited various imambargahs and procession routes across the district to review security arrangements for Muharram-ul-Haram.

BAHAWALPUR - Section 144 has been imposed at examinations centres established by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Bahawalpur for conducting exams of the Intermediate (Part-I) Annual Examination 2026.

MUZAFFARGARH - A middle-aged man was killed after being struck by a detached solar panel during a windstorm in the area.

BAHAWALPUR - A Punjab Food Authority (PFA) team conducted raid at a house in Ahmadpur East tehsil of the district and confiscated huge quantity of cooking ghee made from animal fat.

United States Vice President JD Vance on Thursday issued a rare rebuke of Israel during a White House press briefing, criticising Israeli lawmakers who had opposed the memorandum of understanding signed between the United States and Iran. Under the deal, the two sides have agreed on a framework to end the war, reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a 60-day timeline for further talks. Vance’s comments come amid rising tensions between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” Vance told reporters. “Anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation.” Talking about the MoU itself, the vice president noted that Iran will “have to perform” and honour its end of the deal. “If they don’t perform as we’ve said before, they don’t get any of the bene...

• PM, US & Iran presidents sign ‘Islamabad MoU’ • Traffic flows through Hormuz as accord takes effect